Women in Japan

“Japanese Lawmaker’s Baby Gets Booted From The Floor” is an article about a municipal lawmaker who brought her 7-month old baby to her job which was dominated by males, and she was asked to leave. There were no rules against bringing infants, but it goes to show the type of inequality that women face in not only Japan but around the world. Surprisingly, in Australia, Senator Larissa Waters was able to breastfeed her baby on the floor of Parliament. It is a burden that many women face around the world, such as the idea that you should not breastfeed in public because it makes people uncomfortable.

In Japan women consistently leave the workforce because they are expected to do so when they have children. Even at their jobs they get the worse pay, worse benefits and worse career prospects. They earn 74% of the median male wage on average, similar to their American counterparts who earn slightly more with 81%. The disparity between men and women in terms of politics and economics is a global problem and something that we need to combat. It will be a difficult process in Japan as this way of thinking is a cultural tradition.